


Crow Court

by aqd



Series: Rare Pair Week 2017 [1]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Crows, F/M, Halloween, M/M, Multi, OT5, One Shot, Polyamory, Short One Shot, Witch Hunt, Witchcraft, Witches, coven - Freeform, dgm rare pair week, mentions of torture, polyamorous coven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 06:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12575440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqd/pseuds/aqd
Summary: The formerly blue sky is suddenly full of clouds, grey and dark, and the wind gets stronger and stronger. A murder of crows, the biggest he has ever seen, dances over the sky and at once they strike up. A song, haunting and morbidly beautiful.(Day 2 of the Rare Pair Week)





	Crow Court

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 of the Rare Pair Week: Black, Mysterious, ~~Sophisticated~~ , Powerful, ~~Emptiness~~ , ~~Void~~ , Darkness  
> I would like to thank Kittybandit for hosting the week. Thank you so much!
> 
> As you can see I love crows, ravens etc.  
> The one shot was planned as a part of my halloween countdown, but in the end it resembled "Unkindness" too much and so it became part of the rare pair week. 
> 
> trigger warnings: stake, mentions of torture, witch hunt

They come at night and surprise them in their sleep, like the cowards they are. Both of them fight back relentlessly, but they’re not strong enough, not after such a short time. The following days are a nightmare.  
  
Interrogations, the demonstrations of torture instruments and finally the use of those instruments.  
  
Kanda doesn’t give in. The pain is atrocious, but nothing against Alma’s screams. He hears them while he lies in his cell and there’s nothing he can do. A confession means death - for both of them - and so he stays silent, though it’s unbearable. He’s nearly relieved when they let up on Alma and pay attention to him. Yes, the pain is terrible, but not as much as Alma’s cries.  
  
This goes on for days. Both of them don’t confess.  
  
What follows is the ordeal of water. Kanda and Alma manage to lock eyes before they get thrown into the lake and both of them know that there’s no way they’re going to pass. They get pushed and both of them don’t sink. They float side by side, not able to move because of bonds and mortal fear, and their shoulders bump together.  
  
“Yuu,” Alma whispers and Kanda looks at him and the bruises in his face. He wants to answer, but his voice gets drowned out in the piercing shout that follows.  
  
“Witches!”  
  
“Yuu!” Alma repeats, this time more acute, and they get dragged out of water and once more separated. Kanda fights tooth and nail. Only human strength, no witchcraft, because his powers are weakened by days of torture. He kicks, bites and fights against his bonds, but he has no chance. Both of them have no chance.  
  
The execution is on the same evening. Kanda is forced to watch them piling up woods. Two stakes. They are not even allowed to die together.  
  
Finally the time has come. Kanda gets dragged to his stake and he still fights, even though there is no hope for rescue. He fights on principle. He rams his foot hard enough in the face of one of the men that he loses a tooth. Kanda laughs in his face and only stops when he hears Alma’s sobbing.  
  
“Alma!” he shouts and they truss him up. “Alma, I’m here!”  
  
“Yuu!” They leave him alone and finally he can see Alma. He’s terrified. Teary eyes, blotchy cheeks. Rage, Kanda’s oldest companion, roars in his chest and they get hit by a gust of wind, but not more, because he’s too weakened.  
  
“Alma, everything is going to be alright!” Kanda lies, both of them know that, but Alma still nods.  
  
“I wish I could hold your hand.” Alma gives his best and tries to smile, but it’s a poor caricature of the warmth his soft mouth normally emits. He wants to add something, but he blanches with fear and Kanda knows why. He smells it. A lit torch.  
  
“Alma, I’ll see you on the other side,” Kanda exclaims and his voice sounds so much firmer than he feels. Death is going to be slow and painful and he dearly hopes both of them will suffocate before the fire reaches them.  
  
They light Kanda’s stake first and smoke burns in his eyes. Alma screams and he wants to shout something reassuring back, but his mouth is full of smoke and he can’t breathe.  
  
_That’s it_ , he thinks. But he’s wrong.  
  
Another gust of winds hits him, this time much stronger. Smoke gets blown away and Kanda inhales greedily. He turns his head and locks eyes with Alma, who pants as bad as he does.  
  
Something brushes over Kanda’s cheek. It’s a single black feather.  
  
The formerly blue sky is suddenly full of clouds, grey and dark, and the wind gets stronger and stronger. A murder of crows, the biggest he has ever seen, dances over the sky and at once they strike up. A song, haunting and morbidly beautiful.  
  
The villagers start to panic and relief flows through Kanda. Witchcraft, he feels it in his veins. Alma laughs and sounds as relieved as Kanda feels.  
  
A part of the murder separates from their fellow crows and rages down, right onto the ground. The crows scatter apart and a young woman stays behind, veiled in a black cloak. She turns her head and darts a look at Kanda and then at Alma, before she pushes down her hood and reveals short hair, as dark as her cloak. Then she raises her hands and her movements are full of grace.  
  
The villagers freeze. They start to levitate helplessly, bumping into one another. The ropes around Kanda’s body fall down and he looks up. She’s not alone.  
  
A black shadow darts over Kanda’s head and for a moment he can see flaming red hair, hidden between hundreds of wings. A slim hand appears and brushes over his head.  
  
He sees movement out of the corner of his eye and another shadow passes Alma. A hand, scarred and dark, emerges from the black sea of feathers and Alma grabs it. He gets hauled up.  
  
Kanda follows suit and reaches for the hand the next time the mess of feathers and witchcraft flies by. Somebody pulls him up and wraps an arm around his waist.  
  
A redhead, young, with freckles and an eyepatch. His healthy eye is as green as the forest, which was once Kanda’s and Alma’s home. Before they burned down their hideaway.  
  
Their noses nearly touch and when the redhead starts to speak his warm breath wafts over Kanda’s face. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get you earlier.” His voice is smooth and Kanda feels his power in his whole body.  
  
“Alma,” is all he says and the redhead smiles. The crows part for the blink of an eye and Kanda catches a glimpse of the other part of the murder. They fusion without colliding and a hand grabs Kanda’s shoulder.  
  
“Yuu!”  
  
Kanda barely finds him in the mess of feathers, tiny dark eyes and beaks. Alma wraps his arms around him and sobs in relief. Kanda holds him tight and suddenly they are back on the ground. The crows scatter away and join the rest of the murder, dancing through the sky.  
  
Their song dies down and it’s deadly silent, besides the sound of wind. The villager’s stare in panic at them and rage riots somewhere under his heart. The young woman turns her head and there’s a glint in her dark eyes. She starts to talk, but her mouth doesn’t move. Her voice resonates from within Kanda’s head and it’s so melodic.  
  
“This is our final warning,” she says softly and a few villagers cover their ears in wild fear. “Attack our kind once more and there will be reprisals.”  
  
Her hands sink down and the villagers fall over each other to the ground. Some stay down and curl up, others scramble to their feet and run to the little church. The air is full of screams and fear, until the crows strike up their song once more.  
  
Somebody takes Kanda’s hand and he looks into pale grey eyes. “Join hands,” the young man softly says and Alma and Kanda do like they are told.  
  
She joins them, her cloak billowing in the unearthly wind. The circle gets closed and once more they lose the ground under their feet. The crows rush down, circle them and feathers brush over Kanda’s face and arms. Then they rage over the sky and away from the smouldering stakes.

  


Alma and Kanda are now part of the coven, led by Lenalee. Allen is an orphan, abandoned right after his birth. Lavi is a runaway and never talks about his clan and they don’t ask.  
  
Both of them learn quickly and their powers grow.

  


Time flies by.  
  
Days in the sun, collecting herbs in the forest, training relentlessly. Moonless nights, the fire under the cauldron the only light source and later a mess of limbs on a blanket on the floor of the hideaway.  
  
Too many fingers twisted into hair, too many mouths on bare skin, too many voices softly resonating from the wooden walls.  
  
Allen’s scarred hand wanders over Kanda’s back and smooths out the scars, carried away from days of torture. Alma’s skin is as unblemished as before their trial and Kanda’s hands don’t grow tired of exploring. Allen reaches into his hair and knots his fingers into the dark sea. Kanda turns his head with a little scowl and the touch of their lips is fleeting and intense at the same time. Alma, still under him, laughs softly and so does Lavi against the skin of Lenalee’s neck. Her hand delves over Alma’s cheek and he leans closer to her.  
  
This goes on and on and it’s too hot and stifling in their hideaway, but they still don’t stop. Kanda has never imagined sharing Alma with somebody and now he watches him kissing Lavi and his old companion rage lies silently and hibernating in his chest. He doesn’t have more time to think about it, because Lenalee smiles at him and twists her fingers into his hair to pull him closer.  
  
Afterwards they lie next to each other. He lays an arm around Alma, who curls into his embrace. Allen lies back to back with him in Lenalee’s arms. Lavi sits cross-legged next to them and stirs carefully the bubbling potion in the cauldron. He notices Kanda’s look and smiles at him. “Nearly done,” he mouths and Kanda nods.  
  
It’s peaceful and calm until Allen flinches and lays a hand over his cursed eye. “They’re coming,” he only has to say and all five of them are on their feet immediately. They slip hectically into their clothes and in the next moment they are already outside. The moon is above them, pale and not much more than a sliver. They join hands and then they run.  
  
The trees move their branches out of their way and nobody loses his footing, even though Kanda and Lavi are the only ones wearing shoes. Shouts resonate and the flickering lights of torches emerge between the dense trees. They keep running. Lenalee leads the way and soon they reach a clearing. The many-voiced call of their murder echoes through the forest and thousands of crows rage down to them.  
  
They disappear before the first of the men reaches them and Kanda and Alma learn that they have several hideaways, always ready to abandon and flee to the next one.

  


This goes on for a while. They live their lives peacefully until they come at night and the coven has to leave. Again and again.  
  
Kanda wants revenge, Alma is on his side, because he always is. Allen wants a diplomatic solution, Lavi doesn’t say anything and Lenalee decides against a confrontation.  
  
Lenalee is in charge, nobody questions that, not even Kanda and his old companion, who roars louder and louder with each day. Rage cavorts somewhere under his heart, rams its sharp claws into his ribs, smoulders him from within, lets his hands and voice tremble. Kanda’s powers grow even quicker than before, but they are feral and start to spin out of control more and more.  
  
The coven loses its light-heartedness. They keep changing their hideaway on a regular basis. Kanda notices them talking about him whenever he leaves the cabin to get herbs or water. Even though their eyes are worried, his anger keeps growing.  
  
So it’s not a surprise when Kanda’s delicate patience finally snaps. He comes home and the coven falls immediately silent, looking at him with big eyes.  
  
“What is it?” he hisses. “What is your fucking problem?”  
  
They’re so much calmer than him, even Alma. They look at him and now he notices little details anger drowned out before. Lenalee’s eyes are reddened, Alma’s cheeks blotchy and the line of Allen’s mouth hard.  
  
Kanda stares at them, rage gone in an instant, and inhales deeply. “Where’s Lavi?” he asks slowly and Lenalee squeezes her eyes shut.  
  
“He didn’t come home,” she whispers, voice silent but firm, before opening her eyes and taking a deep breath. The sadness slowly drains from her face and her dark eyes wander from one of them to the next. “We set out at sundown.”  
  
Rage purrs silently under Kanda’s heart. It’s going to end tonight. Finally.

  


They’re all wearing their dark cloaks, merging with the quickly darkening sky. Kanda’s whole body is shaking, but it isn’t fear. It’s anticipation, it’s impatience, it’s anger. Alma wants to take his hand to calm him down, but he flinches back and narrows his eyes.  
  
“Sorry,” Kanda mouths into the silence of the forest. The air around him is crackling and whenever his hair moves over his cloak, little flashes break through the darkness.  
  
“It’s fine,” Alma answers reassuringly and laughs silently, when Allen takes his hand instead. Kanda knows him well enough to sense the tension in his shoulders and hidden behind his dark eyes. Allen tries to be light-hearted, too, and keeps pointing out stars and fireflies. Lenalee is as silent as Kanda, concentrating on their surroundings and leading the way.  
  
They walk for an hour, maybe two, until they finally reach the village. The little houses lie dark in front of them, the window shutters closed and no candle light spilling out. The only lighted building is the church and Kanda wants to walk towards it, but Lenalee’s hand closes around his wrist. He examines her, pale moonlight reflecting in her dark eyes. Alma wants to say something, but in the next moment they storm out of the forest, plunging towards the coven.  
  
A trap.  
  
Lenalee only has to raise her free hand and their murder appears out thin air and rages down between them and the villagers, all sharp claws and beaks. The air is full of screams, loud and piercing enough that Kanda nearly misses the second group of villagers, spilling out of one of the cabins. Allen is faster and takes care of them. A strong wind rises and knocks them off their feet, stumbling and bringing each other down.  
  
“Alma, aid Allen,” Lenalee says, voice resonating from within and lips closed. “Kanda, let’s get him.”  
  
They start to walk towards the church, cloaks billowing and a part of the murder fluttering around them. Lenalee moves her fingers and the portal flies open. Screams resonate and some villagers run past them and towards the forest in an attempt to flee. Kanda would love to chase after them and release the tension, which lets his hair float and crackles between his fingers blueish whitely, but then he sees a red shock of hair, crouched down and bound.  
  
“What are you doing here?” Lavi shouts and looks at them wide-eyed. “It’s a trap!”  
  
“Do you really think we would abandon you?” Kanda answers angrily and dodges a hook, before striking out. No witchcraft, only anger and fists. Lenalee frees Lavi and wants to help him up, but he hisses in pain. “What have they done to you?” Kanda’s eyes land on the priest, but Lavi holds him back.  
  
“No, not him. He wanted to let me go.” He tries again standing up and Kanda passes the old man, who shivers in fear, and picks Lavi up. “They didn’t do anything. I was just the bait. I hurt my leg when I tried to flee.” He looks really unhurt, only exhausted. Kanda has one arm around his back and the other under is knees, while Lavi wraps his arms around his neck. They lock eyes for a moment and Lavi smiles at him, eye glinting in relief. “You came for me,” is all he says and examines the flashes, which erupt every time Kanda’s hair smooths over his cloak, in awe. Kanda examines him, rage slowing down and grumbling silently in his ribcage, before turning around and leaving the church. This isn’t the time for reunion joy, Alma and Allen are still protecting them outside and Lenalee vanished into thin air, but Kanda feels that she’s close. He can do a few steps before one of the villagers jumps at them. He has a knife and Kanda can only avoid him by the skin of his teeth. Lavi isn’t a big help. He tries to defend them, but all he can do is to call for a part of their murder, who chases down and in between them. The villager makes use of his knife, now in the attempt to protect himself from beaks and claws, and Kanda starts to run.  
  
“I have him!” he shouts and Alma darts a quick look at them, before avoiding a pitchfork. He’s at his limit, Kanda senses it, but Allen already comes running to aid him. Even though they’re now already part of the coven for months, they’re still so much weaker than Allen and Lavi and especially Lenalee, who now appears. She stands in the middle of the market square. Her cloak is billowing wildly and the murder rages round her, circling her and striking up their song. The villagers start to flee in every direction, while their little houses start to crumble.  
  
“Come.” The voice is loud and clear inside their heads and Lavi looks at Kanda.  
  
“Let’s go and help her,” he says, but Kanda is already moving. The electricity flitting through his veins devolves upon Lavi, small white sparks in his hair and between his lashes. They form a small circle around her and join hands. Lavi balances on one foot and Alma and Kanda have to support him. The murder surrounds them, feathers brushing over their arms and faces. One of the crows lands on Kanda’s shoulder and clicks into his ear, watching him with tiny black eyes.  
  
“Kanda, go for it.” Lenalee looks at him, eyes nearly completely dark and short hair moving in a strong wind. Allen and Lavi press his hands and he closes his eyes for a moment. Then the tension in his body erupts. Lightning, the brightest he has ever seen, darts over the sky and hits them, illuminating thousands of wings and sparkling little eyes. Kanda’s hair flies up, so do the cloaks of his coven. They lose the ground under their feet, levitating and moving in a slow circle, Lenalee in the centre. She raises her hands and another lightning erupts. And another, another, another.  
  
Lavi starts to laugh, like he always does when they work together. Alma’s eyes set on Kanda, wide and nearly as dark as Lenalee’s. Allen moves his hand to intertwine their fingers.  
  
The houses collapse and the market place, where Alma and Kanda nearly burned so long and at the same time short ago, disappears under loose stones, burning boards, crumbling clay. The village is gone.  
  
It starts to rain heavily and the sky clears up, exposing the moon, round and peaceful. The murder sinks down and so does the coven.  
  
Soon their feet touch the muddy ground and Kanda has to wrap an arm around Lavi to keep him from falling. He curls his hands into his cloak and looks at him. “Sorry, Yuu,” he says silently, but Kanda just shakes his head.  
  
“Lavi!” Lenalee beams at him. Her eyes are as brown as before and she flies towards him to throw her arms around him. Alma and Allen step closer and in the next moment Kanda gets dragged into a very elbowy group hug. He complains on principle, but he doesn’t move away. Instead he wraps his arms around them, black hair tickling his cheek and a scarred hand on his back.  
  
“Thank you,” Lavi keeps saying and to Kanda’s displeasure they all start to cry, but only to laugh as soon as the first one notices his face. “Oh Yuu, you look always so uncomfortable.”  
  
“Because I am,” he answers and grimaces. Lenalee cups his cheeks and kisses him, still laughing, before turning away to meet Lavi’s mouth. Alma kisses Kanda, because that’s apparently what they are doing now, and let’s go of him, when Allen tangles his hand into his hair. They exchange a few more kisses and touches, eyes glinting with joy of being reunited, before Kanda is the first one to draw back. He picks Lavi up once more and they disappear into the forest.  
  
The murder takes off and dances through the air, their calls resonating over the forest. A few crows fly down and land on their shoulders and in Lavi’s case on his head. He keeps laughing, green eye still a little wet and shining in the pale moonlight.  
  
“Do you think they will come for us once more?” Alma asks after a while.  
  
“Yes, they will,” Lenalee answers calmly and her smile doesn’t cease. “But we will leave beforehand.”  
  
“Where are we going?” Allen asks and examines her.  
  
“Somewhere they don’t find us,” she says and then the murder rushes down. Only a moment later they’re gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading!


End file.
